Five Christmas gifts that give back

Finding the perfect Christmas gift for friends and family can be a difficult task. But with these five popular items from World Vision’s Gift Catalog, you can bring meaningful help and hope to children, families, and entire communities struggling with poverty, while honoring someone special in your life.

The World Vision Gift Catalog offers hundreds of ways to reflect the spirit of the Christmas season — a time of year during which we celebrate the eternal light and hope brought about by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

With items across various prices and categories that help lift children, families, and even entire communities out of poverty, you can bring meaningful assistance to those in need — and let loved ones know that you did so in their honor by emailing or printing out a card to present on Christmas Day.

If you’re looking for gift ideas, consider one of these popular options from the Gift Catalog. Or browse the catalog for yourself and find an item by which you can show loved ones how much you appreciate them.

Goat and two chickens: $100

Goats and chickens both offer a steady source of much-needed nutrition for growing children. A healthy goat can nourish a whole family with milk, cheese, and yogurt, and chickens produce eggs that are rich in protein and other nutrients. A surplus of these products can be sold at the market for extra income, which can then be used for basics like school fees and medical care.

Plus, goats and chickens are highly practical animals. Goats are hearty, and they produce manure that can be used to fertilize crops and gardens. Chickens are easy to raise and require few resources to thrive. And, of course, the animals’ offspring can be sold for even more income, or passed along to help another family in need.

$280 worth of medicines: $35

In developing countries, even the most common childhood ailments can become life-threatening — all because poverty renders basic, inexpensive medicines and healthcare supplies inaccessible. No child should have to die just because the shelves at the local clinic are empty.

When you donate to provide life-saving medicines and supplies, you’ll help ship and deliver donated essentials like antibiotics, anti-fungals, anti-parasitic drugs, deworming medications, disposable syringes, gastrointestinal drugs, painkillers, and surgical supplies. Best of all, thanks to generous donations from corporate partners, any amount you give will multiply eight times in impact — meaning that a donation of $35 becomes $280 worth of medicines!

Hope for sexually exploited girls: $35

Tragically, millions of children — most of them girls — are enslaved in the global sex trade today. Many of them end up there when poverty leads to desperate circumstances from which there is no escape. Seeking to pay off family debts or earn income to pay for basics, these children are lured into traps where they face the worst kind of abuse, exploitation, and brutality.

Your gift will help support World Vision’s efforts to bring hope and healing to the most vulnerable — preventing further abuse and offering interventions like safe shelter, nutritious food, medical care, vocational training, compassionate counseling, and, when possible, reintegration with a loving family.

Necessities for U.S. children: $25

Right here in the United States, one in five children lives in a family struggling with poverty. Many have parents who are affected by job loss, health problems, financial difficulties, or even homelessness. They simply can’t afford to provide basics for their children.

As their safety networks fray, World Vision and its community partners are working tirelessly to help ensure that these U.S. children and families receive the essentials they need to get back on their feet. Your donation will help deliver top-quality donated products to struggling American families — items like shoes, clothing, books, school supplies, and more. And thanks to these corporate donations, any amount you give will multiply eight times in impact — so $25 becomes $200 worth of goods!

This Christmas season, with so many in need right here in our own backyard, your gift can be a true blessing for those who struggle.

Bed nets for a family: $21

The deadliest creature in the world is the mosquito. In places like sub-Saharan Africa, it carries and transmits malaria, a disease that causes great suffering and death in regions where basic interventions like insecticide-treated bed nets are out of reach.

By donating bed nets to a family in need, you’ll provide a source of critical protection against this deadly but preventable disease. Because these insecticide-treated nets will work for up to four years, repelling malaria-carrying mosquitos while children sleep, they’re one of the best investments you can make to help save an entire family from needless misery and even death.

More ideas

Still looking? Browse through World Vision’s Gift Catalog and check out more than 100 ways by which to honor a loved one this Christmas and bring meaningful, life-changing help and hope to a child, family, or entire community in need!